Around one fifth of female motorists confess they have touched up their mascara on the move – equivalent to 2.7 million of Britain's 15 million women drivers.

Three per cent admitted causing a collision when distracted by applying cosmetics.

The poll of 4,000 women drivers by women's motor insurer Diamond comes a year after the introduction of a new offence of causing death by careless driving which carries a prison sentence of up to two years.

Previously, careless driving offences – including applying make-up, eating and map-reading – were punishable only by a fine.

Young women, aged between 17 and 21, were found to be the most likely to put beauty before safety and most liable to crash their car as a result.

Twenty-seven per cent confessed to putting on make-up and nine per cent of those aged 18 or younger have had a crash while doing so – three times the average.

That compares with just six per cent of women aged 56 or older who are least likely to do it at the wheel and just one in 200 – 0.5 per cent – in that age group who have had an accident while applying make-up.

Diamond managing director Sian Lewis said it is "worrying" that so many women put themselves and other road users at risk.

"We all have busy lives but applying your make-up when you're driving means your full attention is not on the road ahead," she said.

"Is your mascara more important than yours and other road users' safety? Even if you're lucky enough to arrive at your destination safely, you could be charged with careless driving if spotted by the police.

"Women are generally great at doing more than one thing at once but this is definitely one area where multitasking should not be practised."

In March 2006, 22-year-old part-time model Donna Maddock, of Mold, North Wales, was fined £200 with six penalty points for careless driving for applying make-up at the wheel of her Vauxhall Astra whilst doing 32mph on the A490 near Abersoch.

A separate survey earlier this year found that seven out of ten drivers believe it should lead to an automatic ban.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents appealed for women to avoid the potentially deadly distraction and warned it could prove fatal.

"It should go without saying that applying make-up while driving is a dangerous thing to do," said RoSPA's head of road safety Kevin Clinton.

"Driving requires concentration and even a momentary lapse could turn a near-miss into a serious or even fatal accident. Commonsense says apply make-up before or after driving."

"Women are generally great at doing more than one thing at once..."